A unit square is drawn. Then an equilateral triangle is constructed on each side of the unit square, and the four new points of the diagram are joined to form a larger square. Find the area of the larger square.
Combining the areas of all the regions, I'm getting that the area of the large square is 3 + 2*sqrt(3).
The height, H, of one of the equilateral triangles can be found as
tan 60 = H /(1/2)
√3/2 = H
The diagonal of the square = 2H + 1 = √3 + 1
The side of the larger square = diagonal / √2 = [ √3 + 1 ] / √2
So....the area of the larger square =
[ √3 + 1 ] ^2 / 2 = [ 3 + 2√3 + 1' / 2 = [4 + 2√3 ] / 2 = [ 2 + √3 ] units^2 ≈ 3.732 units^2